SoonerCare 2.0 waiver application withdrawn

Posted on: 8/21/20

On Aug. 11, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority withdrew its SoonerCare 1115(a)(2) Research and Demonstration Waiver Application (Healthy Adult Opportunity) request from CMS. Also known as SoonerCare 2.0, Gov. Kevin Stitt introduced his plan to overhaul Medicaid in Oklahoma using block grants alongside HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma in Washington D.C. on Jan. 30 of this year. Poised to be the first state in the nation to take advantage of the block grants waiver, Oklahoma’s withdrawal of its application leaves CMS without any HAO applications in the pipeline.

Predicated upon block grants, SoonerCare 2.0 was targeted at the expansion population and included premiums and copays, community engagement requirements (i.e. work, volunteerism, or educational opportunities), the elimination of retroactive coverage, and hospital presumptive eligibility. Staff at OHCA notified the governor’s office that with the passage of SQ 802, the only portion of HAO that could be enacted was the block grants and advised withdrawal. (Scott Tohlen)